Safety stirrup



Dec. 4, 1956 J TANN SAFETY STIRRUP Filed April 19. 1951 w ITuQ/E n 'oR dam IL. 72mm M 72. 11m ATTORNEY United States Patent SAFETY STIRRUP Jack L. Tann, Castro Valley, Calif.

Application April 19, 1951, Serial No. 221,892

2 Claims. (Cl. 54-49) The invention relates to a safety stirrup which provides for an automatic releaseof a riders foot therefrom if the rider should be dangerously dislodged from the saddle with which the stirrup is used.

An object of the invention is to provide a safety stirrup which is particularly reliable in its foot-releasing action.

Another object is to provide a safety stirrup of the character described which may not release a foot which is normally engaged therewith.

A further object is to provide a stirrup of the character described having its release member iittable to a riders ioot opposite the instep and non-injurious to the instep if forcibly engaged thereby.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth or be apparent in the following description of a typical embodimentthereof, and in the accompanying drawings, in which, 1

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a stirrup of my invention in normal foot-retaining condition.

Figure 2 is a view of the stirrup in foot-releasing condition.

Figure 3 is a side view of the stirrup with portions broken away for showing certain details of the structure.

Figure 4 is an upright section of the stirrup taken at the line 44 in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view taken at the line 5-5 in Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a hinge pin of the assembly.

As particularly illustrated, the stirrup 8 of my invention essentially comprises a support frame 11 of a :generally inverted-U conformation, a foot-piece 12 having one end hinged to one side of the frame 11 and having its other end releasably secured to the other frame side by a hook, and a release member 13 operative by a foot within the stirrup space and engageable by the foot of a thrown or dangerously dislodged rider for rendering the hook inoperative.

The present frame 11 comprises opposed and complementary plate members 14 and 15 which are connected at their top by a tie-bolt 16 to secure them in relatively fixed spaced relation as comprising the sides of a rigid unitary assembly, the bolt 16 is being arranged 'for its engagement in the bottom loop of a usual stirrup leather L of a saddle, as is indicated in dash lines in Figure 1. Owing to its rigid and unitary structure, the support frame 11, which includes the relatively fixed members 14 and 15 and the bolt 16, may be referred to as a U-shaped element having the members 14 and 15 comprising its sides, it being understood that this element might be unitarily cast or molded of a suitable material.

The foot-piece 12 comprises a U-shaped plate member having the ends of its sides 17 and 18 arranged for engagement with the opposed endsof the support firame sides 14 and 15respectively. The foot-piece sides :17 and 18 curve smoothly into the generally flat foot-piece bottom or tread portions 19 to provide a particularly com- 2,772,532 Patented Dec. 4, 1956 'ice :fortable centering support of a foot thereon. The opposed end portions of the frame side 15 and fO0t-1pl6C6 side 17 are hinged-1y connected by a hinge pin 21 engaged through spaced and aligned tubular ears 22 provided by the side 17 of the foot-piece 12 and a tubular car 23 provided by the frame side 14 and positioned between the ears 22, the arrangement essentially comprising a hinge assembly of a usual type.

It will now be noted that the release member 1-3 essentially comprises a transversely arched plate 25 having end portions thereof arranged for disposal opposite inner lower face portions ofthe frame sides :14 and 15 and pivotally secured thereat by pivot pins 26 and 31 extending through them; such a release member so shaped is sometimes referred to in the art as a release yoke. The pivot pin 26 comprises abolt having its head 26' disposed against the inner side of the engaged end of the release member and mounting a nut 27 at its outer end. Washers 28,|and 29 are mounted on the shank of the bolt 26 at opposite sides of the frame side 14 in engagement 'theerew-ith, at least the washer 29 comprising a spring washer whereby the release member 13 may be frictionally held to the frame side .14 for its limited swinging with respect to the frame space against an adjustable degree of frictional resistance.

The pivot pin 31, which is shown alone in Figure 6, comprises a special bolt having a circular head 31 and having its shank provided with an intermediate cylindrical portion 32 between coaxial portions 33 and 34 of polygonal (square) cross-section at the head end and terminal portions of the shank; for facilitating its operative installation the circums-cribing circle of the portion 33 has the radius of the portion 32, and "the sides of the bolt portion 33 are tangent to the cylinder of the portion32. The pivot pin 81 is arranged for nonrotatable engagement with the engaged end of the re lease member 13, and to that end said, member end is provided with a hole which is complementary to the pin shank portion 33 whereby the permitted insertion of the pin from the inner side of the member will non-rotatably engage the pin portion 33 with the hole through the member to provide for a rotation of the member with the pin.

A spacing washer 35 is mounted on the shank of the pin 31 between the member 13 and the irame side 15, and the cy-lindrica-l shank portion 32 of the pin is journalled in said frame side and a plate member 36 fixed to the outer side of the trame side 15 thereat. Having the .pin 31 tully inserted in its operative position, the polygonal shank portion 34 of the pin is arranged to complementarily fit an opening provided through one end of a hook member 37. The .pin 31 is arranged to be held and retained in cooperative relation to the release member 13 and the frame side 15 and the plate 36 and the hook member 37 by a screw 38 axially mount-ed in the outer end of the pin and securing a washer 38 against the pin end, the arrangement providing for a swinging of the release member and hook with respect to the frame side 15 against :a slight frictional resistance jointly provided by the assembly at the pin 31 and for the pivot pin 26.

Aside from its functioning as a spacing means between the frame side 15 and the hook member 37, the plate member 36 is also utilized in assuring the normal abutted fit of the opposed side andfoot-piece ends. As particularly shown, the end of the frame side l5 is formed with an intermediate extension 15 which is arranged for its engagement in a complementary notch provided in the opposed edge of the foot-piece side 17' whereby the en ga ged said ends of the abutted sides may be mutually centered and secured against lateral separation in their planes, the relation being particularly brought out in the sectional view of Figure 5. The plate member 36 is generally T-shaped, with its stem portion providing part of the bearing for the pivot pin 31 and its cross portion extending across the frame side end and opposite the tongue Rivets 36' through its cross portion secure the plate 36 in its mounted position on the frame side 15, and it will be noted that the ear portions 17 at the opposite sides of the notch 17 of the foot-piece side 1'7 are arranged to fit fiat against the inner face of the member 36 when the corresponding frame side and foot-piece ends are abutt-ed.

The hook member 37 essentially comprises an elongated plate element having one end provided with the opening which complementarily and non-rotatably receives the square end portion 34 of the shank of the pivot pin 31, and is provided near its other end with a side notch 39 which is arranged to receive. the shank 41 of a headed pin 41 which is mounted in the corresponding side 17 of the foot-piece '12 at an appropriate location thereon. As particularly shown, the shank 41' of the pin 41 is stepped beyond its hook-engaging portion and is engaged through a bore joint-1y provided through a spacing plate 42 and the foot-piece side 17 in riveted engagement with the side and plate.

Referring now to the specifically disclosed forms of the support frame 11 and the foot-piece 12 and the release member 13, it will be noted that the sides 17 and 18 of the foot-piece 12 are cylindrically arched inwardly toward each other, and that the lower portions of the frame sides 14 and 15 are flat and diverge from mutually parallel upper frame side portions in tangent relation to the connected foot-piece sides at their extremities. Noting that the angular relation of the pivot-carrying portions of the frame sides 14 and 15 disposes the pivot pins to have their axes angularly related and intersecting generally centrally within the tubular foot-receiving space of the stirrup structure, it will be seen that the washers 29 and 35 on the pivot pins 26 and 27 respectively function as spacing washers to facilitate a necessary degree of swinging of the release member 13 about the pivot pins between positions in which the hook 37 is cooperatively engaged with or released from the locking pin 41.

When a present stirrup is supported from its stirrup strap, a forward rocking of the hook 37 is required to release the hook from the locking pin 41 provided on the side 17 of the foot-piece 12. Under riding conditions, the top of a riders foot which is supportedly engaged with the bottom or tread 19 of the foot-piece 12 is arranged to underlie the release member 13 in spaced rela-- tion to its opposed under face, and a solely upward movement of the foot against said face will not rock the member for releasing the hook from the pin 41. If, however, a rider is so dislodged from riding position as to fall from his mount, the resulting tilting of his foot in the stirrup is arranged to engage the shoe toe with the forward edge 13' of the member 13 to rock the same for releasing the hook 37 from the pin 41, and so permit a swinging separation of the foot-piece from the stirrup frame to free the foot which might otherwise become hooked and held in the stirrup to make serious injury to the rider possible; it will thus be understood that the present stirrups are particularly safe for their use by pleasure and range and breaking riders of horses.

Since the forward edge of the release member 13 is to be forcibly engaged by the toe portion of a dislodged riders shoe, a forward edge portion 13' of the member is preferably turned upwardly in a smooth curve. Also, since the member 13 normally overlies the instep of the riders foot, its rear edge may control the degree of insertion of the foot within the stirrup space. Preferably, and as shown, a plate member 44 is mounted upon and across the rearward part of the foot-piece 12 for foreand-aft adjustment thereon, a rear edge portion 44' of the member 44 being smoothly turned upwardly to avoid injury to a riders ankle which is normally spaced therefrom. As particularly shown, the member 44 is adjustably fixedupon the member 13 by means of bolts 45 engaged through openings provided at opposite sides of the member and selectively engaged through similarlyspaced sets of holes 46 of lines thereof provided through the top of the member 13. It will be understood that the adjustably-mounted member 44 is designed for its positioning to limit the degree of insertion of a particular riders foot through the stirrup under riding or falling conditions.

Should it be desirable that the release hooks 37 of a saddle-carried pair of stirrups 8 both be presented at the outer sides of a riders feet, whereby the presently illustrated stirrup would be that for the left foot, a cooperative pair of stirrups of the construction may be provided with mutually reversed right-side and left-side assemblies of their parts. It will be understood, however, that identical stirrups of the present structure may be provided at both sides of a saddle for their emergency opening for releasing the foot of a thrown rider from either one regardless of whether the hook 37 thereof is at the inner or outer side of the stirrup.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the present safety stirrup will be readily understood by those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains. While I have described the principle of operation, together with a form of my invention which I now consider to comprise a preferred embodiment thereof, I desire to have it understood that the showing is primarily illustrative, and that such changes and developments may be made, when desired, as fall within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. 'In a safety stirrup, a U-shaped support frame having first and second depending sides, a U-shaped foot-piece having the extremity of one side hinged to the extremity of the first frame side and having the extremity of its other side normally abutting the extremity of the second frame side in complementary relation thereto, a releasing yoke disposed between said frame sides, first and second hinge pins extending outwardly from the yoke ends and respectively through the first and second frame sides in journalled relation thereto, said yoke comprising a longitudinally arched member for overlying an appreciable length of the instep of a foot normally engaged through the foot-piece and having mutually spaced forward and rearward foot-contacting edges normally disposed at opposite sides of the plane of the frame and respectively provided by a forward section which is longitudinally attached to the frame and a rearward section mounted on the forward section for its fore-and-aft adjustment with respect to the forward section to variably space said forward and rear yoke edges with its said rearward edge arranged for stirrup-positioning engagement with the front of a foot supported in the stirrup and its said forward edge arranged for its engagement by the top of the foot when it is rocked backwardly from its normal disposal in .the stirrup to rearwardly displace the yoke, means fixing the second hinge pin to the engaged yoke end, a hook member carried by the latter said second hinge pin outwardly of the frame side thereat and in fixed radial relation thereto for swinging therewith, and a support pin carried by an outer side of the foot-piece in the path of movement of the hook member and normally engaged by the latter for maintaining the abutment of the second end of the foot-piece with the opposed end of the second frame side, said hook member being releasable from the engaged pin upon said rearward displacement of the yoke by a riders foot.

2. In a safety stirrup, a U-shaped support frame, a U-shaped foot-piece having the extremity of one side hinged .to the extremity of the corresponding side of the frame and having the extremity of its other side normally fixed to the extremity of the other frame side, a releasable holding means normally fixing the unhinged end of the foot-piece to the second said frame side, a releasing yoke hingedly carried by and between the frame sides on mutually aligned hinge pins extending transversely therethrough adjacent their extremities and comprising a longitudinally arched member for overlying the instep portion of a foot normally engaged through the foot-piece and having mutually spaced forward and rearward foot-contacting edges normally disposed at opposite sides of the plane of the frame and respectively provided by a forward section which is hingedly attached to the frame and a rearward section mounted on the forward section for its fore-and-aft adjustment with respect to the forward section to variably space said forward and rear yoke edges with its said rearward edge arranged for stirrup-positioning engagement with the front of a foot supported in the stirrup and its said forward edge arranged for its engagement by the top of the foot when it is rocked backwardly from its normal disposal in the stirrup to rearwardly displace the yoke, and means operative by and upon a rearward displacement of the yoke by a foot to release said holding means from the unhinged end of the foot-piece.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 859,480 Boyer July 9, 1907 1,000,782 Cox Aug. 15, 1911 1,113,093 Bible Oct. 6, 1914 1,129,655 Evans Feb. 23, 1915 1,835,129 Woernle Dec. 8, 1931 2,488,127 Kelly Nov. 15, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS 29,368 Switzerland Sept. 2, 1904 702,444 France Jan. 26, 1931 

